Play and practice in the development of sport‐specific creativity in team ball sports

Abstract

Current theoretical approaches regarding the development of creativity support the view that gathering diversified experience over years is an ideal medium for creative thinking. This study examined the role of practice conditions in the development of creative behavior in team ball sports. Twelve trainers selected the most creative and the least creative players from their teams. These athletes (n=72) provided information about the quantity and type of sport-specific and other related practice activities undertaken throughout their careers. Results indicated significant differences between the groups for time spent in unstructured play activities and a marginally significant difference for total time spent in training for their main sport. In both cases, more creative players accumulated more time than their less creative counterparts.

World-Level Analysis in Top Level Football Analysis and Simulation of Football Specific Group Tactics by Means of Adaptive Neural Networks

“…Often, extraordinary actions or rare goals are discounted as coincidence, which can be identified as spontaneous, creative and non-accidental processes after a closer analysis. This could be extremely helpful for the evaluation of sport-specific training concepts to improve creative behavior (Memmert, 2007;Memmert, Baker & Bertsch, 2010). Of course, neural nets will still never be able to replace experts.…”

A little less conversation; a little more (relational) action please. A fictional dialogue of integrating theory into coaching practice

“…Memmert (2011) proposed the distinction between expert decision making and creativity may lie in the distinction between convergent thinking and divergent thinking. Memmert, Baker and Bertsch (2010) continue drawing distinctions noting that "convergent thinking refers to the ability to find the ideal solution to a given problem whereas divergent thinking is defined at the behavioural level as innovative or uniqueness of solutions to a related task " (p.4). In terms of tactical creativity expert decision making would require a general ability to find the best tactical solution in any specific situation.…”

“…Therefore, it is proposed that coaches are required to provide corresponding practice conditions that ultimately lead players to achieve successful performance outcomes courtesy of an assortment of coordination solutions (Davids et al, 2015) These solutions should impact upon decision making (Passos, 2008), creativity (Memmert, 2010) and game intelligence of players (Renshaw & Clancy, 2011). A strong indicator of coaching expertise is how well coaches can structure variability effectively, in such a way that guides players to these different and effective outcomes (Davids et al, 2012).…”

“…As noted, through incorporating a CLA, the search for functional performance solutions emerges from environmental, task, and individual constraints (Newell, 1986) and players develop their expertise over time through modifying their performance as constraints change (Davids et al, 2012;Renshaw, Davids, Glazier & Button, 2005). Despite fluctuations of movement, the same outcomes can be achieved through recognising 'degeneracy' as a functional property to be exploited where players continually "seek to (re)establish coordinated relations amongst limbs, joints, and environmental surfaces, objects and events in a performance environment, regulated by different perceptual variables" (Davids et al, 2015, p.138).Therefore, it is proposed that coaches are required to provide corresponding practice conditions that ultimately lead players to achieve successful performance outcomes courtesy of an assortment of coordination solutions (Davids et al, 2015) These solutions should impact upon decision making (Passos, 2008), creativity (Memmert, 2010) and game intelligence of players (Renshaw & Clancy, 2011). A strong indicator of coaching expertise is how well coaches can structure variability effectively, in such a way that guides players to these different and effective outcomes (Davids et al, 2012).…”

Creativity, Resistance to Mental Fatigue and Coping Strategies in Junior Women Handball Players

“…Current theoretical approaches regarding the creativity development support the view that gathering diversified experience over the years is an ideal environment for creative thinking. Thus, in sport, it was found that more creative players accumulated more time -time spent in unstructured play activities and time spent in training for their main sportthan their less creative counterparts (Memmert, Baker, & Bertsch, 2010). The simple reaction time to stimuli and vigilance are used in order to assess the resistance to mental fatigue.…”